Chapter 7 - The Echo Trial (2)

The storm screamed above us. Snow hammered against the jagged rocks where we crouched, the wind shrieking through the ravine like something alive. I huddled low beneath the overhang with Sio, Jun, Ilena, and Rachel. Aelric, the grey-furred cat, pressed tightly to my side. Our breaths came out in thick clouds, each of us too tense to speak. Even the wind sounded afraid.

I don't remember who noticed it first. Maybe it was the way the wind faltered—or the low, sickening growl that seemed to rise from the earth itself. Something primal surged through me, an instinct older than thought. My fingers curled around the cold stone beneath me as I leaned out to peer past the rock wall, heart thundering in my chest.

At first, I saw nothing. Just white. Endless snow, broken by splintered trees and jagged ridges. Then—movement. A shape pushed through the haze, impossibly large and wrong. A hulking beast crawled on four limbs, its bulk shifting with an unnatural grace. It was thirteen feet tall, maybe more. Muscle and sinew rippled beneath blackened flesh, and its jaws stretched unnaturally wide, filled with jagged teeth that glistened with strands of saliva. Scalding steam curled from its maw with every breath, melting patches of snow as it moved.

I ducked back quickly, pressing my back to the cold rock. My pulse roared in my ears.

"What the hell is that?" Jun hissed, clutching Ilena tighter.

No one answered. The ground trembled beneath us.

Without warning, the creature erupted through the cliffside, scattering rock and snow in an avalanche of violence. Ilena cried out, a sharp piece of debris slicing across the side of her head. Blood flowed freely as Sio pulled her back, shielding her body. The world exploded around us.

"Move!" Rachel shouted, already scrambling to her feet.

We broke into a run.

Jun tried to lift Ilena, carrying her in his arms, but the swirling storm and falling debris cut us off. I saw him vanish into the chaos, calling her name, his voice lost in the white roar. I turned, sprinting beside Rachel, Sio, and Aelric as the world cracked apart behind us. A sound unlike anything I'd heard—part snarl, part shriek—tore through the air. I didn't look back.

We pushed on, slipping and stumbling, lungs burning. The hiding place we'd sheltered in was nothing but splinters now. And the others—the rest of the group—were gone. We were truly alone.

Rachel looked at me, panic in her eyes. "They left us?"

"They ran," I panted. "We have to keep going."

The Wraithborne surged after us. Snow hissed beneath its limbs, turning to water wherever it stepped. I spotted a long, sharpened branch sticking out of a fallen tree, buried halfway in snow. I skidded to a stop, yanking it free with frozen fingers.

Rachel grabbed my arm. "What are you doing?"

"I'll drag it away. You and Sio—run."

"That's a terrible plan! You'll die.

"There's not any other choice is there?!" I snapped. "It mitgh work!"

Sio looked ready to argue, but the Wraithborne howled, deafening and final. We didn't have time. I turned and ran, slipping between the trees.

My breath wheezed through clenched teeth, fogging the air as I zigzagged between trunks. I didn't know what I was doing—only that I had to buy them time. The stick felt laughable in my hands, more twig than weapon, but it was all I had.

Behind me, the creature gave chase. Its limbs slammed into the earth, each movement shaking the ground. Bark exploded from trees it brushed against. Heat swirled behind me like a furnace had opened its maw.

[What you're doing is suicidal,] the voice echoed inside my skull—the Fourteenth, calm and detached. [But you have no choice now.]

"I know," I muttered, darting behind a tree. I tried to steady my breathing, snow falling onto my shoulders.

[Try and pierce one of its eyes. Stabbing anywhere else will be like stabbing tungsten.]

My eyes locked onto a gnarled pine just ahead, its branches low and covered in ice. I darted to it, pressed my back against the trunk as the beast charged past. My heart hammered and my neck throbbed as if something was growing. As it moved, I rolled under a fallen log, clutched the stick tighter, and crawled beneath the snow, letting it bury me halfway. Cold bit into my skin, but I forced myself to stay still.

As it passed again, I leapt from my cover, sprinted up a low ridge, and jumped, landing just above it on a ledge. It turned, its steaming breath blowing snow in every direction. I took one chance.

I roared and hurled the stick like a spear.

Time slowed. The stick spun end over end, cutting a clean line through the air. The wind caught it slightly, tilting its trajectory by a hair. My heart surged into my throat as I watched it fly—not toward the heart, not even the mouth, but higher. Toward the eye.

A glint.

A flicker of impact.

The sharpened tip grazed the edge of the creature's left eye, scraping across its sclera. A sliver of fluid burst from the wound—thick, black, and steaming as if molten. The beast's howl split the sky. Its body convulsed, front limbs slamming into the ground so hard the snow cratered outward in a circle.

It thrashed wildly, head swinging side to side, uprooting entire trees with its flailing limbs. I shielded my face as splinters of wood and ice exploded around me. Snow lifted in a halo from the shockwave of its pain. My ears rang.

It screamed again—this time more guttural, deeper. Its claws dug into the ground as it reared back and slammed its fists into the ridge I stood on, splitting the ledge in two. I was thrown backwards, crashing into a slope of packed ice. The breath rushed from my lungs.

I rolled, pain flaring across my shoulder, but I forced myself up. My legs were trembling, and my hands were numb, but the creature hadn't stopped.

The creature shrieked in fury, reeling back as if I'd burned it. It thrashed, striking trees and sending them crashing down. I dropped to the snow and rolled, scrambling back onto my feet.

I ran. My limbs were heavy, my head light. Snow whipped into my eyes as I stumbled through the forest.

Somewhere ahead—I saw them.

Rachel. Sio. Aelric.

But they weren't alone.

Iver's group.

They had taken shelter behind a snowbank, forming some kind of loose defensive formation. I waved, breathless, trying to signal—but behind me, it howled again.

They turned too late.

The creature barreled out of the trees, a living nightmare. They broke ranks, running, shouting. But one—the youngest, maybe—was too slow.

I watched in horror as the Wraithborne lunged and struck. The body hit the ground hard, limbs twisted unnaturally. Blood seeped into the snow, staining it deep red.

I froze.

Guilt slammed into my chest like a hammer. I had led it here.

This was my fault.

Rachel looked back at me, eyes wide. Iver was shouting something I couldn't hear.

But I didn't move.

My hands trembled at my sides. The cold wasn't biting anymore. My neck burned. I felt something inside me stir, something dark and steady. My breathing slowed, my vision narrowing to a pinpoint.

It turned towards the group, eyes flaring -

But this time no one could move.

[End of Chapter 7 - The Echo Trial (2)]